Disclaimer?
For some reason, I've always found it harder to explain how much I liked something, rather then how much I didn't like something. Bitter, pointed quips flow quickly through my fingers, but any attempt at praise is reminiscent of a third-grader's first essay on summer vacation. Unfortunately for you, oh reader, I really, really enjoyed Persepolis (in both its incarnations) and I'm required to write about it. Sorry.
Persepolis is a fantastic story. It's also a fantastic movie. I'm very proud of the author, an odd sensation, as we have never met. But yes-I'm proud of her because she told her own story, material that is totally loaded (Middle-east! Women! Burqas! No!) and made it accessible to anybody, American, Iranian, male, female, whatever. It makes sense. Even though the story (her life, lest we forget) deals with painful experiences and emotional, upsetting scenarios, the author maintains her sense of humor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlIAmCfHzbg), which allows us to forget our discomfort with the context and connect with the people in the story. When our entire view of the middle east is informed by redneck politicos and suicide bombers, it's so refreshing to hear a person talk about their actual life without an agenda, even if
it's not about relations with the US at all. Actually -the fact that I would collapse those two subjects is indicative of what a media/education disaster the whole thing is.
it's not about relations with the US at all. Actually -the fact that I would collapse those two subjects is indicative of what a media/education disaster the whole thing is. Incidentally, here's a situation where Scott McCloud's theory of "I relate to simple shapes" proves true. Satrapi's simple portrayals make the characters incredibly endearing, as well as universal.
No comments:
Post a Comment